Islam and the West: Annual Report on the State of Dialogue

<strong>Islam</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong>: <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> on <strong>the</strong> State of Dialogue
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Religion, Ethics <strong>and</strong> Ideology
Box 5.4
Friendship Across <strong>the</strong> Great Divide
Akbar Ahmed
Professor Akbar Ahmed is Ibn Khaldun Chair of <strong>Islam</strong>ic Studies at American University in Washington, DC. His
most recent book is Journey into <strong>Islam</strong>: The Crisis of Globalization.
Talking to Judea Pearl was one of <strong>the</strong> most challenging dialogues of my life. His son had been brutally murdered in Karachi
where I had grown up, <strong>and</strong> on <strong>the</strong> surface we had very little in common. Judea had an Israeli background <strong>and</strong> was a
product of <strong>the</strong> American University system, while I was from South Asia with British education. Our disciplines too seemed
far apart: I was an anthropologist <strong>and</strong> he a scientist dealing with artificial intelligence.
Yet our first difficult public dialogue, conducted on stage in <strong>the</strong> full glare of publicity in Pittsburgh not long after Danny
Pearl’s death, seemed to touch a nerve in people. Invitations began to pour in for <strong>the</strong> two of us to repeat <strong>the</strong> experience.
We spoke to packed halls in <strong>the</strong> US, Canada <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> UK – including a memorable appearance in <strong>the</strong> House of Lords,
appropriately in <strong>the</strong> Moses room. People from all <strong>the</strong> faiths joined us in our dialogues.
Muslims had at first been reluctant to be seen in a public dialogue that promoted Jewish-Muslim underst<strong>and</strong>ing. There
was even some hostility in <strong>the</strong> community. But this soon changed.
In <strong>the</strong> conversations with Judea Pearl I learned many lessons about promoting underst<strong>and</strong>ing between <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>
Muslim world. I learned that to be involved in bridge-building requires more than mere words in conferences <strong>and</strong> seminars.
Dialogue has to be followed through with <strong>the</strong> next step, which is a genuine attempt to underst<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r position.
Underst<strong>and</strong>ing meant <strong>the</strong> need to read about <strong>the</strong> history, traditions <strong>and</strong> customs of <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r; perhaps also to visit
<strong>the</strong> house of worship. Muslims needed to visit synagogues <strong>and</strong> churches <strong>and</strong> Jews <strong>and</strong> Christians to see a mosque.
Dialogue <strong>and</strong> underst<strong>and</strong>ing were steps in <strong>the</strong> right direction, but by <strong>the</strong>mselves did not build permanent bridges across
<strong>the</strong> great divides of religion <strong>and</strong> culture. They did, however, create conditions for <strong>the</strong> final step towards bridge-building:
that is <strong>the</strong> possibility of forming friendships.
Once friendships are created everything changes. It is difficult to think of hatred or violence when friends are involved.
Many problems of <strong>the</strong> world today – in <strong>the</strong> Balkans, <strong>the</strong> Middle East <strong>and</strong> South Asia – involve neighbors who are
strangers to each o<strong>the</strong>r.
Through my friendship with Judea Pearl I learned of <strong>the</strong> courage <strong>and</strong> moral strength of a fa<strong>the</strong>r who turned a catastrophic
personal tragedy into bridge-building with a member of <strong>the</strong> very civilization that had produced <strong>the</strong> killers of his son.
As a Muslim scholar actively involved in bridging <strong>the</strong> gap between <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> world of <strong>Islam</strong>, I believe <strong>the</strong>re is a
lesson to be learned. Dialogue needs to be vigorously encouraged. This in turn creates <strong>the</strong> foundations for better
underst<strong>and</strong>ing, all of which lay <strong>the</strong> grounds for <strong>the</strong> possibility of friendship. Without friendship <strong>the</strong> 21st century will be
atimeofconflict,tension<strong>and</strong>violence.